Post by Renaldo Gouws to Facebook, 18 October 2013

Renaldo Gouws   October 18, 2013 Port Elizabeth •

My first ever political video was uploaded to Youtube in 2007. For the last week I have scanned through all of the videos I have made and I have to admit that I have definitely grown as a person.

Call it getting older and wiser or call it educating myself but boy in some of those videos I said some stupid shit, in others I said some things that make me very proud as an older version of myself.

Looking back now I can understand how some people got angry with me, I can understand how I might have been perceived as aggressive and even racist. Obviously my intentions and outlook was never racist, but the way I delivered my opinions and facts might have been easily construed that way.

I will never apologize for feeling the way I did back then as there were various factors that brought out that rage in me, I will apologize though for not educating myself enough on certain topics before giving my opinion on them.

It's only now, at the age of 30, that I get it. It took me some time to look at the other side of the coin and to put myself in someone else's shoes and completely understand the effects the history of our country has had on all of us.

Thanks to those of you who "got" me and understood that I always only wanted the best for South Africa and ALL it's people. To those of you who didn't "get" me and painted me as a racist or an idiot... I apologize, not because I am a racist or an idiot, but because I failed you in my attempt to convey a message.

In my defense I would like to state that I might not have always said things the way I meant it, and that was purely because of me being Afrikaans and sometimes struggling with putting it in English... I understand now how me saying "WE" or "YOU" could mean I place all of us under the same umbrella.

To the people out there that claim I have changed or that I have toned it down for political aspirations I have the following to say;

I have always been the same person, at my core I have always wanted a South Africa where race and creed would not define us, where we all are considered equals and could live a life of peace and tranquility. With age I have become more mature in my approach and improved myself by challenging everything I believed in and admitting my mistakes and gross lack of knowledge on certain topics.

Would I change anything I have done in the past? Of course not... every single one of the things I have done wrong and right have shaped me into a better person. I am by no means saying I am perfect or will never make a mistake again but I can proudly say that I am better than I was yesterday and the same will be said tomorrow about me today

Regards,

Rendier, (that not so angry anymore guy on Youtube)